The civil rights laws of Congress brought temporary relief to
Americans of African ancestry after the Civil War. Some states,
including those in the Old Northwest, accepted Congress's reform
laws only because assumed that they applied to Rebel states
only. When the civil rights act of 1866 and 1875 mandated equal
access to public facilities such as inns, theaters, and parks, northern
states reluctantly followed along. Indiana also complied with the
new federal policy and the state legislature adopted statutes to
protect the civil rights of black citizens. State compliance with
federal law did not mean that Indiana, or any other northern state,
was ready to fully desegregate public places. The Supreme Court
wasn't ready either. In a series of cases culminating in the Civil
Rights Cases ( 1883), the court struck down civil rights statues. Indiana also softened its laws. By the turn of the century, the state
resorted to de facto segregation. The following documents show the
effort to achieve civil rights reform in Indiana, but the legal
prescriptions rarely came to reality in the Hoosier State.

NUMBER 1

Conveyance of land. Approved March 11, 1861, Revised Statutes.

Section 1. No person except a citizen of the United States, or an alien
who shall be at the time a bona fide resident of the United States, an Indian,
a negro, or a mulatto or other person of mixed blood, shall take, hold, convey,
devise, or pass by descent, lands, except in such cases of descent or devise as
are provided for by law: And Provided further, That the marriage of a
woman with an alien, and her residence with her husband in a foreign State

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.